Honiara Call Caps Record Year of Maiden Calls for P&O Cruises

Pacific Eden’s maiden call to Honiara in the Solomon Islands earlier this month marked the culmination of a big year of maiden calls by P&O Cruises.

Honiara was the final of a massive 17 maiden calls for the line in 2016, beginning with Wewak in Papua New Guinea in February.

According to P&O Cruises Senior Vice President – Guest Experience Peter Little, a lot goes into planning for a maiden visit, a process that can begin years before a call is actually made.

“It involves travel to the destinations ahead of the ships to inspect suitability of the area to berth a ship or receive ships’ tenders plus meetings with various authorities to determine local regulations and customs and quarantine arrangements,” Little said.
“We also need to ensure that any port facility upgrades that might be required are delivered in time; this can include wharf maintenance or installing necessary aids to navigation.
“Another requirement is detailing the specifics of each port including expected weather conditions, tides, currents and any navigation hazards. We meet with harbour masters and pilots to learn any local knowledge which might not already be officially documented,” he said.

Legendary Season Ahead for Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Legend has returned to Australia to ramp up the fun factor for local cruisers, sailing into Sydney today for her third season of cruises from the city.

A favourite Down Under, Carnival Legend is sporting a range of new features including the marine-themed Camp Ocean kids club, which replaces Camp Carnival. Designed for children aged 2-11 years, Camp Ocean features more than 200 educational and engaging activities, as well as three areas for kids of different ages to enjoy plenty of fun at sea.

The ship arrived in Australia early this morning at the end of a 17-night South Pacific cruise from Hawaii, which departed Honolulu on September 23 and visited ports in Tahiti, Fiji and New Caledonia before arriving in Sydney.  She joins sister ship Carnival Spirit, which is homeported in Sydney year-round.

Agents Reap First Rewards of Cruise Month

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia has revealed the first round of winners in its inaugural Plan A Cruise Month promotion.

Bon Voyage Travel & Cruise NZ has won the first of four cruise giveaways with cruise specialist Tonia Timmins choosing to join a voyage to Tasmania onboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Legend as her prize. The agency was awarded the first major prize for their nationwide promotion of Plan A Cruise Month including a 16-page “What’s in Port” guide to the NZ summer cruise season in the New Zealand Herald.

Mobile Travel Agent Sarah Fenton has received $1000 in marketing co-op funds following her strong Plan A Cruise Month social media campaign. Since the start of the month, Sarah has been busy promoting CLIA member cruise line deals and offerings on Twitter and Facebook using #cruisemonth.

Meanwhile Roslyn Savio from Atour Travel Cherrybrook and Andy Thompson from House of Travel Takapuna NZ are toasting their Plan A Cruise Month efforts with a bottle of champagne.

Throughout October, CLIA agent members go in the draw for a weekly cruise prize every time they make a deposited cruise booking, with the great prize pool including four cruises, champagne and double passes to the 2017 CLIA Cruise Industry Awards.